Celebrate Veteran's Day with a person who has dementia

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here are more interesting dementia brain boosting activities

PRLog

Dementia,including Alzheimer disease, affects about 1 in 13 seniors,many of them veterans. As you remember our war heroes on Veteran's Day,think about what you can do for them.They did so much for us



PRLog (Press Release) – Nov 03, 2008 – Veterans who suffer from various forms of dementia, including Alzheimer disease, often have very specific care needs. It is important that these veterans are cared for by people who understand their condition and have the appropriate instruction and skills.

Therefore encourage family members of veterans to gain the training they need to care for their loved one with dementia.

All people, including those with memory loss, need human contact. They need to be hugged. They need to hear your voice. They may not know you but as long as you know who they are, that's all that matters.

Talk to them about their service to our country. Often they will share stories with you because their time in the service made a huge impression on them

Tell them how........read all of support dementia veterans this Veteran's Day

For those in nursing homes and other institutions, make sure veterans with dementia are visited often.

Family caregivers, faith and waiting

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here are more interesting dementia brain boosting activities

Sharon Brothers MSW

Support, ideas and tips to make caregiving easier and to help families find the joy in caregiving

Three years ago, on a dark, late fall night, I sat in the parking lot of the ballet school waiting for my 14 year old daughter to emerge.

My phone rang, and I heard news that would change my family's life.

"Your parents have been in an accident," the voice said. "You need to drive to the trauma center to meet the ambulance with your mother."

"Where's my father?" I asked.

"He's been taken to another hospital. You can call there and get more information."

With that, our lives changed. I was thrown into the whirlwind of planning my father's funeral, while trying to visit my mother as often as possible in critical care. We hosted visiting relatives, and tried to sort out tasks with siblings, all the while keeping everyone on speaking terms.

Every time I tell this story I hear similar stories from families who experienced the phone call that changed their lives.

Families whose loved one had a car accident, a heart attack, a stroke, or diagnosis of a terminal disease.

Families who got the news they never wanted to hear about the death of a young son or daughter serving overseas.

One thing I remember about those early days was the difficulty of waiting.

We waited, that night, in a "family counseling room," my husband, daughter and I, for nearly 4 hours while the doctors tried to stabilize my mother enough for us to see her.

Then we waited, often hours at a time, for her to go through the numerous surgeries that would fix one bone after another in the weeks that followed.

We waited for a doctor to explain to us what to expect next, or a social worker to find out what resources might be available to help her.

Those moments of not knowing, of waiting for tests results or news of survival from another surgery, are some of the hardest moments of all. When we have the facts we can make a plan and start taking action.

How do we cope with the minutes, hours and sometimes days of not knowing?

This is, perhaps, time when our faith must take over. It is the time that we look deep inside and know that, whatever happens, we will face it somehow. We will find the strength to make a plan, to take a step, to continue going. Our family, our friends, our church and our beliefs will help us handle whatever is going to happen.

It's easy to look back and think how very precious and fragile the gift of life is, but perhaps the most precious and fragile thing is the inner strength we must uncover so that when the phone rings, late on a dark, fall night, we can face the voice - and the challenge - on the other end.

Best Designs for Comfortable Eating Part 3

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here are more interesting dementia brain boosting activities

Alzheimer's and Dementia Weekly

Transcript

The LOW ASSIST objects are all about color-contrasts. In this comparison image, the left plate is a color which contrasts the food. People need to be able to locate the food in order to pick it up.

This logic follows through to the cup, allowing people to easily locate handle and rim.

The MEDIUM ASSIST pieces address dexterity. It can become quite difficult to pick food up.

This plate offers an overhang to help push the food onto the spoon.

This cup challenges the need to provide two handles, avoiding it resembling a baby-cup, as shown earlier. The easiest grip to offer is that of putting your hand around the entire cup. The grip is thus insulated with neoprene to facilitate the drinking of hot liquids.



In this comparison image, the left plate is a color which contrasts the food. People need to be able to locate the food in order to pick it up.

The HIGH ASSIST range is aimed at creating a set of tools for assisting residents who can no longer feed themselves.

They are designed to be light and easy for carers to hold, which encourages them to bring the food into the sensory range of the residents, so they can see and smell what they are eating.

Another area that we have been looking at is the table. When used in a common area, it should be set 30 minutes in advance of mealtimes to encourage anticipation and appetite.

Use objects and patterns which are synonymous with dining to reinforce what activity is about to take place.

We have also made the underside flat, for wheelchair access. Existing tables like this one, which have support structures underneath, make it difficult for residents to get close to the food.

This means they have to lift the food over their laps, leading to spillages. This, in turn, could lead to having to wear rather stigmatizing bibs.

Finally, we have been looking at hanging additional lighting directly over tables, some older people needing three-times as much light as that of a younger person.

The light toggles through three light-levels by passing one's hand closely underneath, the idea being that a carer can tune each table-light to the residents' need, without having to run around to locate dimmer switches.

I have talked about eating, but we are only half-way through what we are planning. Next year, I will be joined by another designer, Nick Reisenbury and together we will be looking at activities and bedrooms. The results will join our findings in eating and culminate in design-guidelines this time next year.

go to Best Designs for Comfortable Eating for the video

Best Designs for Comfortable Eating Part 2

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here are more interesting dementia brain boosting activities

Alzheimer's and Dementia Weekly

Transcript

Esthetics matter because people can't help but judge the identity of a person through the objects they surround themselves with.

By creating a coherent table service, we can reduce the stigma attached to using assistive products.

In order to design a range that will help the widest amount of residents possible, I looked at disabilities which are common to aging, such as arthritis and visual acuity.

This area includes cataract, the yellowing of the lens with age, or the loss of depth-of-perception, which is common to Alzheimer's.

We then combined these findings with the degenerative nature of dementia to create three distinct groups that we felt could benefit from assistive tableware.



In this comparison image, the left plate is a color which contrasts the food. People need to be able to locate the food in order to pick it up.

LOW ASSIST is for people who can eat competently but may have sight problems.

MEDIUM ASSIST is for people beginning to lose their skills.

HIGH ASSIST is for those who can no longer feed themselves

go to Best Designs for Comfortable Eating for the video

Best Designs for Comfortable Eating

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here are more interesting dementia brain boosting activities

Alzheimer's and Dementia Weekly

Transcript

This year, I have been working with BUPA (British Healthcare) to improve the quality of eating for elder people with dementia in care.

Although dementia is not limited to older people, the chances of getting a form of dementia increase with age. Recent figures suggest that as much as one in three people over the age of 65 will be affected in their lifetime.

There are currently an estimated 700,00 people in the United Kingdom with dementia, over a third of which live in care homes.

In a recent interview with the Alzheimer's Society, Barbara Pointon said that the brain controls absolutely everything that we do, think and say. When that master computer goes wrong, it cannot be mended. The whole body starts to disintegrate.

In care homes across the country, you will find some of the most extraordinary people who daily have to overcome high levels of mental disability, physical disability and dependency.

This year, with the help of BUPA, we have humbly entered the world of care to understand it more deeply and see what role design can play.

I adopted an immersive research method which included background reading, interviews with residents, interviews with carers, and observation. I also attended carer training.

A resident remarked to me last week, "I may be an invalid, but I do not want to be treated as one."

It has been our aspiration to improve the lives of older people with dementia in care, and use design even in the smallest way to help them live at the highest level of their ability.

The focus this year has been on eating in particular, that is, assistive technologies. Today, I am going to briefly talk about some of the prototypes completed and that you will be able to see on this website.

There are plenty of assistive technologies on the market, but few have been specifically designed for the care environment.

This means they have some basic failings. They don't stack, they age badly, or they make the food look un-appetizing.

As a result, they don't fit in a commercial kitchen, people don't buy them, or if they do, they get frustrated and throw them out because they are not doing their job.

The negative side of this is that residents are not getting the tools they need to retain their eating skills for longer.

So I have adapted some of the tried-and-tested features already on the market and looked at how they could be used to improve existing tableware.

go to Best Designs for Comfortable Eating for the video

When to Stop Treatment for Advanced Dementia Patients

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eHow

Deciding when your loved one with dementia is ready to die is difficult. Letting go is a challenge. Understanding what advanced dementia is and preparing for it go a long way in dealing with this hard process. Grieving for your loss is necessary and will bring meaning, healing and wholeness back into your life.

Advanced Dementia
In the last stage of dementia, people lose the ability to react to their surroundings, the power to speak and at the very end the ability to move. Often those affected are unable to understand the meaning of words and the ability to speak except for occasional words that make no sense. These folks need assistance with eating and may not have the ability to recognize or swallow food. They cannot control their bowels or bladder. People with advanced dementia lose the ability to sit without support. They cannot smile or hold up their head. Their reflexes become abnormal and their muscles grow stiff. They may be in pain but cannot express it.

Prepare Early
There are many things you can do to prepare for the time to stop treatment. When your loved one still has the capacity to make his wishes known, make sure he picks the person to make health care decisions when he can't. In other words, execute a health care proxy. Second, be certain he makes known the kind of medical treatment he wants or does not want. Third, get all finances in order, seeking financial and legal advice while your loved one is able to participate in the process. Doing these things makes everything easier.

Care Options
If you are choosing to care for the person with advanced dementia at home, understand that the process is going to become increasingly difficult, Physical needs and the 24-hour care requirements of the final stages of caring often prompts outside help. If, as a caregiver, you want to keep your loved one at home, make sure you have the stamina, space and support from others to do so. You may choose to place your loved on in a skilled nursing facility. You can be there as many hours a day as you want. You have the option to take a break if you need to. You can still direct the care of your loved one without the physical burden to yourself. Many resources are available to help you with placement and service options. Contact your local area Alzheimer's Association for help.

Manage Pain
Managing pain and discomfort necessitates daily observance and re-evaluation of not-so-obvious nonverbal indicators. Especially after a dramatic decline, you may choose to discontinue all other medical interventions and focus on soothing and calming care for the discomfort and symptoms related to dying. Small behavioral changes often indicate unmet needs. Keeping a journal may help you keep track of this. The soothing comfort of massage, touch, music, pleasant smells and your loving voice can also reduce pain. Try different techniques and watch your loved one's response.

Hospice Care
Hospice care concentrates on the management of pain and the comfort of your loved one at the end of life. Hospice is available anywhere, including a nursing home. Hospice offers family support during and after the dying process. Stop hospice care at any time if you so choose.

Family Issues
Your family may have difficulty,,,,read all of When to Stop Treatment for Advanced Dementia Patients

How to Care for Elders With Senile Dementia

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here are more interesting dementia brain boosting activities

eHow

Senile dementia, an incurable brain disease, affects thinking, memory, communication and behavior. Because of the brain changes associated with senile dementia, caring for these elders presents many challenges. Achieve success with knowledge, patience, planning and flexibility.

1Learn all you can about senile dementia and the elder with senile dementia as well.

Step 2Establish a routine because those with senile dementia respond best if you do things in the same time frame everyday. Because each elder with dementia is different, the time for doing everyday tasks is different. Observation determines the most successful way to establish a schedule.

Step 3Keep potentially dangerous and fragile objects out of a dementia sufferer's reach.

Step 4Console the elder with senile dementia by helping him cope with day-to-day challenges of not remembering things.

Step 5Develop a positive attitude by having a support system so when the task of care giving is overwhelming, you have people who will help out.

Step 6Join a local support group or become a member of an online group.

Step 7Learn how to communicate, by breaking down tasks into small steps and speaking in short simple sentences. If you have to repeat something, say it the same way or simpler.

Step 8Manage problem behaviors by careful observation of triggers for the unwanted behaviors. Do not take aggression against you personally. It is the disease talking, not the elder with senile dementia.

Step 9Provide healthy meals and snacks. Allow the elder the opportunity to help in planning and preparing simple meals and snacks. Keep things simple. For many this is a meaningful activity.

Step 10Engage those with senile dementia in.....read all of
How to Care for Elders With Senile Dementia